System for measuring the position and movement of an object

Abstract

The disclosure relates to a system for measuring the position of an object in a measurement volume, including: an optical angular measurement device, disposed with static optics, configured for measurement of the an azimuth and elevation angle of the object in the measurement volume with respect to the optical angular measurement device, a range measurement device, disposed with static component, configured for measurement of the range of the object in the measurement volume. It further relates to a use of the system and a measurement method.

1 . A system for tracking in a measurement volume a position of a moving object or of at least one target on an object in the measurement volume, comprising:
 an optical angular measurement device, disposed with static optics, configured for measurement of azimuth and elevation angles of an object in the measurement volume with respect to the optical angular measurement device;   a range measurement device, disposed with a static component, configured for measurement of a range of the object in the measurement volume; and   a processing device, configured to calculate a position of the object from the range and the azimuth and elevation angles of the object;   wherein said measurement volume is an intersection of a measurement volume of the optical angular measurement device and of a measurement volume of the range measurement device; and   wherein the measurement volumes of the optical angular measurement device and of the range measurement device are rotationally fixed relative to each other for a duration of the tracking measurement.   
     
     
         2 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the optical angular measurement device is configured for measurement of the azimuth and elevation angle of a first target associated with the object, and the range measurement device is configured for measurement of the range of a second target associated with the object. 
     
     
         3 . The system according to  claim 2 , wherein the first target includes three targets, and the processing device is configured to calculate an orientation of the object. 
     
     
         4 . (canceled) 
     
     
         5 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein a beam of light emitted by the range measurement device is spatially fixed during the range measurement. 
     
     
         6 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein a beam of the light emitted by the optical angular measurement device is spatially fixed during the azimuth and elevation measurement. 
     
     
         7 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein a positional relation between the optical angular measurement device and the range measurement device is known. 
     
     
         8 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the optical angular measurement device is arranged for measuring a divergence light by using the static optics. 
     
     
         9 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the optical angular measurement device comprises:
 a sensor for detecting via the static optics having   two one-dimensional optical sensors in non-parallel alignment, or   a two dimensional optical sensor.   
     
     
         10 . The system according to  claim 9 , wherein each optical sensor is of the charged couple device, complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor or position sensitive detector type. 
     
     
         11 . The system according to  claim 2 , wherein the optical angular measurement device comprises:
 a fixed-beam light source for illumination of the first target by using the static optics.   
     
     
         12 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the static component comprises:
 a time-of-flight measurement system configured for measuring a time delay between emission and detection of a wave energy reflected by the object.   
     
     
         13 . The system according to  claim 12 , wherein the time-of-flight measurement system comprises:
 an emitter for the wave energy that has a fixed beam output.   
     
     
         14 . The system according to  claim 12 , wherein the range measurement device is an optical range measurement device with the static component. 
     
     
         15 . The system according to  claim 13 , wherein the emitter is a laser, or a laser of a coherent laser radar. 
     
     
         16 . The system according to  claim 13 , wherein the emitter is a sonic or ultrasonic transducer. 
     
     
         17 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein the object is a measurement probe. 
     
     
         18 . The system according to  claim 17 , comprising:
 a synchronisation device for synchronising measurement data obtained from the measurement probe with a calculated position and movements of the probe.   
     
     
         19 . The system according to  claim 2 , wherein the first target and the second target are a same target. 
     
     
         20 . A method for measuring a position of an object within a measurement volume, comprising:
 measuring, using an optical angular measurement device disposed with static optics, azimuth and elevation angles of the object in the measurement volume with respect to the optical angular measurement device;   measuring, using a range measurement device disposed with static components, a range of the object; and   calculating, by a processing device, the position of the object from the range and the azimuth and elevation angles of the object,   wherein said measurement volume is an intersection of a measurement volume of the optical angular measurement device and of a measurement volume of the range measurement device, and   wherein the measurement volumes of the optical angular measurement device and of the range measurement device are fixed relative to each other.   
     
     
         21 . The system according to  claim 1 , in combination with an object, for measurement of the position and movement of the object. 
     
     
         22 . (canceled) 
     
     
         23 . (canceled) 
     
     
         24 . (canceled) 
     
     
         25 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the range measurement device and the optical angular measurement device is devoid of a mechanism for electronically controlled movement of a component therein to track movement of the object or of the least one target on the object. 
     
     
         26 . The system according to  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the range measurement device and the optical angular measurement device is devoid of a steerable mirror.